Complications
by ArchFaith
Summary: De-anon from the kinkmeme. Ivan and Pao-lin wake up the morning after having sex for the first time. Both have incredibly different viewpoints about the changes they've just gone through; Ivan tends to think the worst, while Pao-lin is much more of an optimist.


Disclaimer: All Tiger & Bunny elements belong to Sunrise.

A de-anon from the kinkmeme.

Complications

by archfaith

The first sensation to which he became aware was that he was naked. Which was nothing new, really. Sometimes he would just wear his underwear to bed, or an old Hero Academy t-shirt if it was cold. Most of the time he slept nude.

The second sensation was that someone was curled up behind him, with arms tightly wrapped around his waist. Now that was something he wasn't used to.

Ivan nearly bolted upright, springing out of the bed in a fit of surprise. Automatically his body shifted into a defensive stance; he bent one knee behind him, while raising his arms to shield himself from harm. And to think, he had been surprised in his own bed! There was no telling what he could be up against this time. He was usually so meticulous when it came to securing his home...

He was greeted with the sight of a girl stretched out on the futon below him. Though her eyes were still closed, there was a grimace on her face as she shifted away from him, pulling the blanket covers tighter around her naked body.

_Pao-lin_, he thought with relief. _Just her. Thank goodness. For a moment I thought-_

And then he really thought about it. _Pao-lin?!_

The relief quickly gave way to anxiety. _What is she doing in my bed? Naked? What did we...?_

He ran over the events of the night past. They had visited a few shops selling traditional Japanese weaponry, and afterwards had stopped by a sushi restaurant for dinner. She had never been over to his apartment before, so he had invited her. She had shown her ninja gear, his imported clothing, all the little toys and souvenirs he had collected online and from vintage stores. They had settled down to watch one particularly bad monster movie when the kissing had started. Then...

_We had sex!_

For all his nineteen years, he had never felt so confused as he did at that very moment. Hovering over her, eyes wide open, he found that he could not believe such a thing could even remotely happen. His eyes wandered to the low night table near the futon. A blue box lay on the table, along with an empty wrapper. For some reason, Nathan had given him the box a weeks ago. "Just in case," the pink-haired man had told him before pressing it into his hands with a wink. Ivan had accepted it with a monumental wave of embarrassment, never dreaming that he would ever have a reason to use it.

His eyes wandered back to the sleeping girl, wrapped up in the sheets on his futon. Her blonde hair, tinged with the faintest hint of green, was strewn across her eyes. He felt a clamp take hold on his heart as he stared at her, his shocked expression giving way to concern. _I've ruined it_, he thought wildly. _It's over between us..._

He stood there, puzzling over what to do next, when Pao-lin opened her green eyes slightly, startling him even more. "Ivan," she said, stretching out against the mattress. "Why'd you have to jump up like that?"

He knit his eyebrows. "Sorry!" he told her, his pale cheeks turning bright red. "I just got surprised."

Pao-lin gave him a smile, one that might have made him melt if he hadn't been so embarrassed. "Was I hugging you too tightly?" she asked, voice still heavy with sleep. She had to admit-she could get used to him being the first thing she saw in the mornings.

"No, that's not it," he protested weakly. Realizing he was still nude, he quickly turned from her and bent to retrieve one of his old t-shirts from its place on the tatami mat. "Let me just get some clothes on and-"

"Get back in!" she said lightly, and before he knew it she had pulled him back onto the futon with her. He nearly toppled onto her as she giggled, apparently unembarrassed by their states of total undress. "It was so comfortable," she explained as he sat up. "You're really warm!"

Ivan tilted his head. Pao-lin didn't seem to concerned about the situation whatsoever; perhaps she did not remember what had happened the night before. "Pao-lin..." he began, casting his eyes down to his lap. "Um...I mean..." He had never been good at having serious conversations, and he felt himself tremble with embarrassment.

Pao-lin frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Last night," he finally said. "You and I...we..."

"So that's what sex is like," Pao-lin said thoughtfully. "I used to think it might be painful, or that I wouldn't enjoy it. But I was wrong."

He raised an eyebrow. "You actually liked it?"

Pao-lin looked abashed as she stared back at him. "You mean you didn't?"

He had hardly even thought about his own feelings about the night before. He reflected back on what they had done together, and felt a faint blush rising to his pale cheeks. He had enjoyed himself, immensely. Of course there had been moments during the night when he had been so nervous, but seeing Pao-lin's reassuring smile had given him some needed confidence.

"I did enjoy it," he told her. "But that's not the point." Ivan felt his cheeks growing almost painful as he made a deep bow to her. "You're younger than me, and I shouldn't have taken advantage of you."

"Huh?" she asked. If he was referring to the events of last night, she didn't quite understand why he was so nervous. "You didn't take advantage of me at all," she said. "I had a lot of fun. There's no way I would have said yes to something I didn't want, you know!" She would have supposed that Ivan knew this about her by now.

"So you wanted this?" he asked, almost incredulously.

"Yes," she said. She had been calm up to this point, but Ivan's nervous air had leaked into the atmosphere, affecting her as well. "I did," she affirmed, looking down at her lap. They had quite forgotten that they were both nude in front of each other. "I really like you, Ivan."

"Oh," he said simply, feeling foolish all of a sudden. "I really like you too. But...our friendship..." he continued. "It...it can't be the same after this..."

For the first time that morning, Pao-lin's face suddenly registered a hint of distress. "Ivan," she began, touching his forearm with her fingers. "Are you saying you don't think we can be friends anymore?"

"No!" he affirmed. His hands moved towards her, and he grasped his fingers tightly within his own. "That's the last thing I want!"

"Oh, good." Pao-lin said, her face growing lighter. "For a moment, I thought you were going to say you didn't want to hang out with me anymore."

"I'd never say that," he replied, his voice defeated. "I want to keep hanging out with you every day."

She couldn't help but let out a small laugh at this. He was so odd sometimes, this boy; but she liked him a lot. "I'm glad," she said, grasping his hands a little tighter. "Our friendship is really important to me."

He looked up at her, mystified. "Are you sure you're not upset?"

"No," she said simply. "Why would I be? I'm happy. I got to sleep in your bed with you. And you showed me some tricks I've never learned before."

He looked away from her again. "I shouldn't have," he insisted. "Friends don't do those types of things with each other."

She regarded him with a confused expression on her face. "Okay," she said slowly. If he was going to insist on being so guilty, she would have some fun with him. "Well...you can be my boyfriend, if you want."

"Boyfriend?!" he squeaked. "Me? You really want _me_?"

"Well, yes," she replied. Now she was the one getting nervous. "Friends don't do those things with each other, but sometimes friends can become more than that. You know...?"

"Yeah," he said breathlessly. "So...you want to be my girlfriend?"

She wrinkled her nose at this query. "I'm not very girly, though," she told him. "I'm really more of a boy. So maybe I can be your boyfriend instead."

Ivan scarcely heard the details of what she was saying, though she meant it to be a joke. They stared at each for a few moments before Pao-lin's face broke into a smile. "Are you really going to get up this early?" she asked, yawning. "Well, I'm going back to bed." Without another word she dove under the covers, disappearing from his view completely. If he was going to keep being so uptight, she would just need to show him that there was no reason to worry.

Ivan hesitated a moment before crawling in next to her. He felt her small, lithe body pressed against his, and suddenly the anxiety melted away. In fact, he thought as he burrowed his head into the crook of her neck, he didn't know why had been so scared in the first place. Maybe life didn't have to be so complicated after all.

...

End note: Just a little de-anon from the kinkmeme, which requested an Ivan/Pao-lin story where Ivan and Pao-lin wake up after having sex for the first time. The request asked that Ivan be nervous and shy, while Pao-lin is enthusiastic. Hope I did alright. This couple needs a lot more love in fics!


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